The Sword Cultivator Ahead, You're Speeding!

Great Profound Realm, Central Continent, Sword Province.

Today is a fine day for entering seclusion, emerging into the world, crafting talismans, or practicing arts.

In the sky, within the flight paths designated for Foundation Establishment Realm practitioners, streams of light of various colors weave back and forth.

Each streak of light represents a cultivator at or above the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage, capable of flight via artifacts.

In this current era, the mass production of large-scale manned magical treasures is possible, yet most practitioners still prefer this ancient method of artifact flight, with sword cultivators being the most numerous; thus, this sword-flight lane was born.

Originally, this was just an unremarkable day.

But before long, a rather inconspicuous gray-white light suddenly intruded from outside the designated transit zone.

Its speed was extremely fast, far exceeding the level of the Foundation Establishment Realm.

The hazy gray halo it emitted seemed to possess a concealment effect as well.

It traveled against the flow among the many white streaks of light for quite a while, yet not a single practitioner noticed it.

It was not until it passed the practitioner highway toll station.

The large-scale spiritual energy detection system equipped there suddenly reacted.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

The alarm, sounding as if it were having a seizure, instantly jolted the lane administrator, who had been napping on a recliner, causing him to jump up in a start.

"Holy crap!"

The technical effects from Spirit Sound Workshop are just that good; they strike directly into the depths of your soul.

Refreshing and stimulating, there is absolutely no chance of failing to wake up!

He hurriedly looked at the screen to the side.

What the hell!

Speeding and driving against traffic—who has the guts to be this arrogant?

He immediately grabbed the identification badge from the table and pinned it to his chest.

[Name: Zhang Xiu]

[Cultivation: Golden Core Middle Stage]

[Employee ID: 9527]

He pushed open the door and formed a hand seal with his fingers.

A dark red, archaic longsword flew out from the scabbard hanging on the wall.

Zhang Xiu stepped onto the blade and closed the door behind him.

With the increasing maturity of spiritual repulsion technology, it is now possible to keep toll stations suspended at a sufficient altitude for long periods, and the cost is not high.

Hum~

Fifth gear start!

The instantly erupting spiritual pressure kicked up a shockwave in place.

A red streak of light tore through the sky, pursuing that gray-white glow.

"Which son of a bitch is speeding and driving against traffic? Are you tired of living?!"

"If I catch you, I'm going to teach that little brat a lesson!"

Zhang Xiu cursed and grumbled while giving chase.

However, half a minute later, looking at the gray-white sword light that had already vanished from the spiritual energy detector, Zhang Xiu could not help but fall silent.

He was moving at the standard speed of a Golden Core Middle Stage cultivator!

Logically speaking, he was a full major realm higher than the other party, so what the hell was going on that he couldn't even see a shadow?!

He chased for a while longer, but still didn't see a single hair.

Clearly, this person was definitely more than just a Golden Core!

Which big shot wasn't being watched properly and came to the Foundation Establishment lane to mess around?

Aren't they afraid of being caught?

And why did it have to be him who ran into it!

"..."

Zhang Xiu stopped the pursuit and took out his communicator.

He reported the incident to his superior.

The message was answered instantly; his superior told him to return, stating that they would send someone else to pursue the target.

They also indicated that the authorities had already been notified.

Whew~

It should be none of his business now.

Zhang Xiu stared for a while longer before stepping onto his sword to return.

Meanwhile, inside that grey-white streak of light.

Xu Xing was maintaining his Breath Concealment Art, frowning as he scrutinized the Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators flying past him.

How did it feel as if the entire world had changed just from him coming out of seclusion?

This attire... it was closer to what he had seen before he transmigrated.

The more Xu Xing looked, the more puzzled he became; it couldn't be that the two worlds had merged while he was in seclusion, could it?

Or perhaps a technological explosion had occurred?

He withdrew his gaze from a young girl sword-cultivator wearing denim shorts and showing off her fair legs.

This world had definitely undergone some changes he never expected!

Before his seclusion, such attire would have been impossible to see in broad daylight.

Hmm... of course, that excluded the Joyous Union Sect.

"Sword cultivator ahead! You are speeding! Please pull over, cooperate with the investigation, and present your sword-flying license!" A gruff voice came from behind.

Hm?!

This familiar sense of déjà vu... combined with the sound-based techniques of the Spirit Sound Workshop.

Xu Xing paused and turned his head to glance back.

He saw a black shuttle-shaped magical artifact carrying a scruffy, middle-aged man, steadily closing the distance.

Since when did the Spirit Sound Workshop start recruiting men!

But a Nascent Soul cultivation base...

It was decent enough for his age.

So, should he stop?

After a moment of hesitation, Xu Xing increased his mana output slightly.

Hum~

The grey-white sword light flared, its speed instantly jumping by several magnitudes, churning up turbulent air waves that even the nearby Foundation Establishment cultivators noticed.

Holy crap!

Who was that?

The middle-aged man on the shuttle looked at the data feedback on his spiritual energy detection instrument and couldn't help but stop.

He watched helplessly as the sword light vanished into the horizon, not daring to give chase.

A Void Return Realm grand cultivator!

Which sect's ancient relic had just come out of seclusion, only to be run into by him!

Only those grand cultivators at the Void Return Realm or higher would go into seclusion for hundreds, or even thousands, of years at a time.

Having missed the era of the Great Reform, they were completely ignorant of the rules of this new age.

May the Holy Emperor bless him, let this old relic not be a demonic cultivator!

Praying in his heart, he took out a talisman.

Void-Escaping Message Talisman!

Extremely precious, to be used only for major events.

Recording the situation he had just encountered into it with his divine sense, he released the talisman.

With a flicker of spiritual light, the talisman vanished.

Next, he had to calm down the Foundation Establishment cultivators here and arrange for their evacuation.

If that had been a Void Return Realm demonic grand cultivator, it would be no laughing matter.

On the other side, Xu Xing had already arrived above a city.

High-rise buildings stood in dense rows.

Many vehicles resembling 'cars' traveled back and forth on wide, smooth roads.

Yet, they were powered by a hybrid of electricity and spiritual energy.

What was this?

Modernized cultivation?

The familiar yet strange scene left him somewhat dazed.

What on earth had happened during the years he was in seclusion?

After observing for a while, Xu Xing landed by the roadside and withdrew the grey spiritual light that had been concealing his aura.

At the same time, his black, narrow-sleeved robe automatically transformed into an utterly ordinary white shirt and casual trousers.

Wait, this road surface seems...

He crouched down and reached out to touch it.

It was actually paved with the crushed remains of spirit stones that had been drained of all their spiritual energy.

Furthermore, buried deep underground was a formation base, and the immense spiritual power contained within it was equivalent to the total mana of a Nascent Soul Cultivator.

Xu Xing raised his head, his expanded divine sense covering the entire city.

A total of three hundred and sixty-five formation bases were interconnected, forming an incredibly vast and sophisticated grand formation that could shroud the whole city.

When operating at full power, the destructive force it could unleash would even surpass that of an average Spirit Transmutation cultivator.

"Not bad."

The structure of the formation was extremely ingenious; even with Xu Xing's discerning eye, he could find few flaws.

But if one were to encounter a formation master with profound attainments in the dao of arrays...

Withdrawing his divine sense, he stood up and walked directly into the city.